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(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1. J. C. POTTER. 4DUST 0R CLEANING TRUNK EURGOTTON OPENERS 0R LIKE MACHINERY.

Patented Sept. 18, 1894.

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\No Model.) 2 Sheets--SheefJ 2.

J. O. POTTER. DUST CN CLEANING TRUNK TCN CCTTCN CPBNBNS CR LINEMACHINERY.

No. 526,326. Patented Sept, 418, 1894.

UNITED STATES t PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. POTTER, OF PAVTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

DUST R CLEANING TRUNK FOR COTTON-OPENERS` 0R LIKE MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 526,326, datedSeptember 18, 1894,

Application filed June 30, 1894.

To all whom it may concer-1c.-

Be it known that I, `JAMES. C. POTTER, of Pawtucket, inthe State ofRhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dustor Cleaning Trunks` for Cotton-Openers or Like Machinery, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The ordinary dust or cleaning trunk contains a grid which separates thecotton passage above from the dirt and refuse receiving space below. Themain characteristic of my invention is that the space below is filledwith water or other liquid, thus providing for the trunk what may notimproperly be termed a water bottom. Into this water bottom the dirtfalls and is carried olf by a conveyer whichis immersed in the water andserves to convey the dirt and refuse to the point of discharge. Iconnect the water space or chamber of the trunk with a source of watersupply; I provide it with a valve or cock controlled discharge; and Ifind it convenient also to provide it with an overfiow whichprevents thewater from reaching too high a level. That level I prefer should be alittle above the lower edges of the grid bars. I am thus enabled toprevent all intercommunication from below between the spaces whichseparate the grid bars, while at the same time the sand and dirt canfall and be carried off with perfect freedom. The trunk is air andwatertight as well as iire-proof, and is made preferably of cast iron.By closing the overow (which for this purpose may be provided with avalve or cock) the trunking can be iiooded so as to extinguish any rewhich may exist in the same, or to tlood the machines Vith which itisconnected should they take To enable others skilled in the art to makeand use my invention I shall now proceed to describe more particularlythe way in which itis or may be carried into effect, by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevationrepresenting the trunking and the machines which it connects. Fig. 2 isa cross section of the trunk, together with a representation of thegearing by which the conveyer is driven. Fig. 3 is a plan of a part ofthe trunk with its top taken olf and one of the grid sections removed.

Serial No. 516,195. (No model.)

Fig. 4 is' a view of the removed grid section, part of it being brokenaway so as to exhibit more clearly its construction.

The dust or cleaning trunk A in the present instance is supposed to beinterposed between a cotton opener X and a breaker lapper Y.

B is the passage for the cotton.

C is the water bottom, and D are the grid bars which separate the two.

The water bottom is approximately triangular in cross section,having atits lowest point a concavity for receiving the conveyer which in thisinstance is a worm E which when in operation is slowlyrevolved by anysuitable means-'as for example by gearing from the eountershaft y of thebreaker-lapper Y, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This worm extends thelength of the water bottom and is supported in proper endand centerbearings e, e.` At the middle point of the Water bottom is located thedirt receptacle lc and valve controlled discharge d. The worm is maderight and left hand as shown so that it will feed from both ends to thecenter where the refuse carried by it is dumped into the receptacle c.The discharge can of course be 1ocated at any desired point in the waterbottom. I prefer the central location shown as being on the Whole themost effective and convenient.' The water or other liquid is supl-vplied through a valve controlled pipe d which is to be in communicationwith a source of supply. At any desired or predetermined level I locatethe overflow pipe f which leads from the water bottom into thedischarge, and which, for the purposes hereinbefore indicated, can beprovided with a valve or cock f. I prefer that the water level should beabove the lower edges of the grid or cleaning bars D, these edges, asshown in Figs. l and 2, being immersed into the waterbottom for a depthsufficient to form an air tight joint, thereby cutting o allcommunication from below between the grid spaces, and allowing the dirtfrom the cotton passing over the grid bars to fall freely into thewater. This dirt as it accumulates will be carried forward to thedischarge point by the slowly revolving Worm E which may be runcontinuously or intermittently as desired. It will be suffi- IOO cientusually to draw off the water twice a day, once at noon, and once onknocking off Work at night. The Water in passing off will create a draftof air downward between the grid bars, thereby removing any lint whichmay have accumulated on the same.

The grid or cleaning bars may be of any ordinary or approvedconstruction. I prefer however to make them as shown in the drawings,and to construct the grid in sections which are separately removable.The bars themselves with a view to lightness and durability I make ofsheet zinc bent into the shape shown in Fig. 4, so as to form hollowsheet metal bars of approximately triangular cross section. These barsare brazedor otherwise suitably secured to end strips Or stringers hpreferably of brass, which are inclined to conform to the inclination orslant of the Walls of the water bottom in which they are seated.

The grid is made up 4of short sections, consisting each of a suitablenumber of these bars together with their two end strips h, as shown inFig. 4. By taking o the top or cover of the trunk any of these sectionscan be readily got at for removal or repair.

I have described what I believe to be the best Way of carrying myinvention into effect, but I do not desire to be confined to the detailsof construction set forth in that description. I believe myself t0 bethe first to provide a dust or cleaning trunk with what I have termed awater bottom; as well as the Iirst to have carried the level of thewater above the lower edges of the grid or cleaning bars, and I desireto be understood as laying claim broadly to each of these features.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A dust or cleaning trunk having acotton passage and grid or cleaningbars combined with a water bottom, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

2. A dust or cleaning trunk having a cotton passage and grid or cleaningbars combined with a water bottom-the water level being above the underedges of the grid bars, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

3. A dust or cleaning trunk comprising in combination a cotton passage,grid bars, and a water chamber or space below the same provided Withwater supply and discharge pipes, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

4. A dust or cleaning trunk comprising in combination a cotton passage,grid bars and a water chamber below the same provided with water supplyand discharge pipes and an overflow substantially as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. A dust or cleaning trunk comprising a cotton passage grid bars, and awater chamber or space below the same provided with water supply anddischarge pipes, in combination with a conveyer mounted in said chamberand adapted to carry the refuse therein to the discharge point, andmeans for actuating said conveyer, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

6. The cleaning trunk having a chamber below the grid of approximatelytriangular cross section in combination with separately removable gridsections having slanting or inclined sides to fit against the slopingsides of the chamber.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. POTTER.

Witnesses:

SOLOMON ROBERTSON. THOMAS P. BARNEFIELD.

